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Nov 30, 2008

I thought i'd update the world on my project. Wednesday night when i got home, i ran into a friend of my brother's who is a senior at Worcester State. We got to talking and he seemed perfect for the project. He lives at home and works part time. he commutes to Worcester three days a week as it's cheaper than living at school. He did two years at NECC to alleviate the loans but is still feeling a crunch from the financial times. It helps he's a ham and sounded excited to get his photo taken. He was doing a little bit of work today, so i tagged along and tried to get some engaging photos. I tried to channel Don when i was snapping away. Not as dramatic as i was hoping. maybe i'll try to photoshop them a bit.

Now i'm at his family's house and I'll get audio and more photos. I'm going to work around the game though. Pretty sure curse words will fly but not ideal for the project.

Nov 23, 2008

After much deep and profound brain things inside my head, (Madagascar reference. Anybody?) i figured out why i am such a bad blogger.

1. Slightly forgetful. i can't tell you how many times i've written down blog or barefoote or write something stupid on my to-do list. it just never happens. i think it's because unlike an assignment when i can hold the paper it's written on or see/listen to the notes on the voice recorder, i can't physically touch the blog and therefore feel, i dunno, not connected i guess.1a. (yeah i can do that. it's my blog) assignment mentality. i keep a journal but don't feel like it's a requirement. i write most everyday and if not everyday then at least four times a week. i look at this like it's an assignment, which i guess it is. but because of that, i don't feel as involved as i think i would were it something i was doing of my own volition. in addition, i have conferences with sandy every week where i get to vent/brief/ask about the class. i feel like he's been the main sounding board during the semester where i guess i should have been using the blog.2. Diary/journal/blog? I've done a bit of research, aka looking at other blogs, to figure out what exactly should go up here. i'm left more confused than ever. I've seen some similar to live journals or diaries, some forums for the writer's (blogger's?) opinion, and other more news oriented. well, what the hell? what should i do? my journal is not for the public, while i have lots of opinions (perhaps too many) i'd really rather not share, and for news, well, there's tnh.3. lacking a gripping subject. my friend phil is in italy at the moment and he's using his blog to talk about his adventures. kind of saving him the time of writing individual emails to everyone. keeley, another friend, just set up a blog to highlight some of the places she's gonna see during her season. practice for the travel writing she wants to get into. i'm less inclined to use the blog as a soundboard for my whining about multimedia. i whine enough in person, there's no need to pollute the internet with it.4. Whining it is. in that vein, i am struggling with posting things. i put together a trailer for my project, little 20 second video, but couldn't get it on youtube. it was saved as a moviemaker file which doesn't work, then i couldn't get the compressor to cooperate. so i ditched that idea and fooled around on blogspot to see if there's a way to just upload a video right from the computer but was unsuccessful. if anyone has solved that particular puzzle, i'm willing to pay in coffee and cookies for info.

So there it is. the reasons why i am such a bad blogger. to change the subject, the project is progressing marvelously. i loved talking to don on thursday. one of my high school teachers described the sensation as 'an a-ha moment' and that was what talking to don was for me. i was trying to go large scale, cram everything about the subject into multimedia, which just wasn't working. but he put it nicely, it's not a comprehensive story, it's highlighting one aspect of it. to those that don't know, i've decided to look at the financial crisis from the stand point of a student (it's been narrowed down to just one, barring the ceramics student getting back to me) and how that affects their plans and current situation. don was really great about hearing a few minutes of audio and immediately zoning in on the good stuff, what's going to grab the audience. so now i can sit here and have a very clear narrative in mind instead of being bogged down in the details. the audio track i'm going to use is just about finished too (i just need him to clarify a few things, maybe say something without so much noise in the background). so at the moment i'm just missing a few bits of audio and pictures (i really want a nice portrait, not the fuzzy one i have now.) that being said, i'm going to go knock on wood and throw some spilt salt or something.